


All that remain

by christinesangel100



Series: All that remain [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Gen, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-31 18:08:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15125039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/christinesangel100/pseuds/christinesangel100
Summary: With the risk of so many gems being shattered, Pearl started picking up her fallen comrades.  It was better than risking them being utterly destroyed, even if it wasn't particularly safe. When the Diamonds corruption hits, only those protected by Rose's shield survive.Which is far more than Rose Quartz originally believed.





	All that remain

**Author's Note:**

> So, I wanted to publish this before the new episodes come out, so that it's not contradicted before I even post it. It's going to be a series, with fics with bits about all the gems. I've already started writing Moonstone's story. It's a sort of crack fic idea, but I love the idea of Pearl saving others by storing them in her gem. This is set directly after the corruption, so mostly based around their grief.  
> Hope you enjoy! Please let me know what you think!  
> I may edit in future to improve it, but as for now this is what I've got :)

The four gems stared at the bubble before them, the gem inside corrupted beyond all recognition. It had attacked them, it’s form animalistic and strange, nothing like what was normal for any gem. What the Diamonds had done…it was horrific.

      They’d fought those they could and taken one of the poofed gems back to the healing fountain for Rose to try to heal. Her grief was surely strong enough – except nothing changed. There was nothing visible to heal, nothing visible to fix. The gem had reformed, just as corrupted, just as angry and hurt and scared and there had been nothing they could do to help it.

      Rose knelt before the bubble, trembling. Tears were still pouring through her eyes from her attempts at healing. Nothing she could do was enough. There was no way to bring them back. This punishment, this ultimate revenge of the Diamonds was impossible to fix, even for her.

      “They’re all gone.” Rose said, voice shaking. “All of them, lost, because of me! Because of Pink Diamond!” She spat the name of the Diamond who had claimed the planet as a colony, feeling nothing but despair.

      Garnet and Pearl were similarly stricken, their faces filled with grief and horror. Garnet kept stretching, glowing and almost splitting into two forms before returning to her normal form. Sapphire and Ruby were struggling, and that did not bode well for Garnet’s presence there. They were connected by their grief, for the moment – for now, that was enough to hold them together. Garnet tried to see into the future, to see a way to help the corrupted gems.

      She couldn’t see anything. It was too – too far away, too huge, too impossible.

      Pearl paused.

      “Not all of them are gone, Rose.” She said. Her own face was streaked with tears, but she spoke anyway.

      Rose shook her head. “There’s no use, Pearl. We were the only ones saved, because of my shield. Everyone else was lost.”

      Pearl spoke, her voice urgent. “No. Rose, I – too many of us had been shattered or damaged recently in battle, after being returned to their gems. I…well, I started picking up our fallen friends. Those I managed to find were protected by your shield, too.”

      “But where…?” Rose started to ask, before she realised. “You stored them in your gem? Pearl, that could be dangerous.”

       “It was better than letting them be shattered.” Pearl argued.

      The knowledge that a few comrades had survived was the final straw, and Garnet split into two small, grieving gems.

 

      They moved back a little from the fountain, Pearl starting to pull the gems from her head. She laid them on the ground gently, careful not to do anything that could damage them. She’d saved more than she’d realised originally, pulling out 23 gems from her own and placing them before them.

      23 gems. All had been in danger, and it had been all Pearl could do to pick them up and keep them safe. She was amazed it had worked.  Ice was spreading along the ground, and melting, as Ruby and Sapphire’s emotions were unable to be contained. Sapphire tried to see for danger, but the war was over. Any homeworld gems were gone or corrupted. There was no one left.

      They’d won. In a manner of speaking. They’d saved Earth, at least. They’d lost so many, but they’d saved the earth.

      It was hard to feel pride in a victory when so many had fallen.

      The Crystal Gems still formed knew that they wouldn’t be able to leave until all the gems had reformed. They had to reassre themselves that there were survivors, other than them. That these 23 gems weren’t corrupted.

      An Amethyst was the first to reform, stumbling and looking around wildly.

      “Where’s Citrine?” She asked, panic in her voice. Pearl wasn’t used to seeing this Amethyst alone, but remembered seeing them poof on the battle field. The fusion they’d been a part of had been split, their forms destroyed, and Pearl had rushed in to defeat the Quartz soldier they’d been fighting, taking the two gems for safekeeping. Amethyst scanned the line of poofed gems, relaxing only slightly when she saw the Citrine she was looking for, rushing over and gathering the dormant gem in her hands.

      The healing fountain wasn’t an unusual sight for gems to reform by, but the rest of the site was wrong. Amethyst looked around at the scant other gems, seeing the visible grief on the 4 gems that were watching them. Only the 4 most senior of the rebellion were there. That was odd. Usually, there would be more gems around, waiting to make sure their friends were alright.

      “What happened?” She asked, tone full of dread.

      Rose was the one who answered. She was the leader, after all.

      “It was the Diamonds. They sent out a song, and it corrupted everyone. We’ve lost everyone.” Her eyes were still streaming enough that no fountain would be necessary if one of these gems was injured. Pearl hadn’t seen any cracks, but she could have missed one. “We’re all that’s left.”

      Amethyst looked around at the gems in the room, mostly inert, looking desperately for those she knew best.

      “No – that can’t be right, it can’t be. What about Nephrite? Cinnabar? They aren’t here, they aren’t-“

      Ruby shuddered, then growled in anger. “They’re gone. All of them. The Diamonds – they don’t care. They didn’t even care about their own soldiers. They destroyed everyone.”

      Amethyst clutched at the Citrine in her hands, wishing the other gem would reform. She was sure she could handle this news as Ametrine, if Citrine were here – but the other gem stayed as It was.  
      “There must be a way to heal them. You – you can heal, can’t you do something?” Amethyst pleaded, turning to Rose with her eyes full of desperation.

       Rose shook her head. “I won’t stop trying, but…” She gestured to the bubble, waiting in the fountain. “She won’t respond to my tears at all. I don’t know if I can…if this can be fixed.”

      Amethyst couldn’t believe it. One fight, and everyone gone? It didn’t seem real. She’d seen Nephrite nearby in the battle, cheering her on with her ever present grin. Cinnabar had rolled her eyes and smirked as Nephrite almost tripped over her own weapon on the way to the battlefield. Both of them were good at fighting. But they hadn’t had a chance against the Diamonds.

      She was about to ask how any of them had survived, before she remembered Rose’s shield. Of course. If anything could stand against the power of the Diamonds, that shield could.

      She held Citrine to her chest tightly, tears streaming from her eyes as she huddled with the gem. Citrine had always taken longer. She’d never minded, not really, but now every second felt like an   eternity.

       It was a while longer before the next gem started to reform. A yellowish-green Epidote rose into the air, body forming around her. She landed solidely on her feet, reaching immediately to summon a weapon from the gem on her shoulder before registering her surroundings. She froze; looking around, she saw the lines of gems on the ground, the Amethyst huddled with a gem in her hands, and the 4 other gems that waited for them all to reform. She looked frazzled, scared. This wasn’t how they usually reformed after battle. Any of them could tell that this was wrong.

      Epidote wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt at comfort as they explained, listening to the horrific truth they told her. She stared at the remnants of the army, the rebellion. She’d put all her hope in it, had nothing left but a dream for a better world, a better life. She’d known there would be losses. How could there not be, in a war? But there were so many. This was all that was left.

      Biggs formed next, angry and ready to fight. Even as the other gems explained again what had happened, her fury grew.

      “We have to fight back! We can’t let the Diamonds get away with this.”

      Epidote shook her head, unable to find words but knowing it was pointless. There was no way to get to Homeworld, and no way they could stand against those with this much power. It was Sapphire who spoke instead.

      “We can’t. We have no way to get there, and there are too few of us. An attack at this time would be impossible.”

       Before Biggs could respond, forming plans and ideas for an attack, Snowflake Obsidian’s gem rose into the air and formed. Snowflake had always been a calming influence on Biggs, and even as she cried and grieved for everyone they’d lost, Biggs focused on comforting her instead of impulsive revenge plans.

      Halite formed next, seeming to realise almost immediately by the emotions in the room that they were the only ones left. Halite stared, not knowing any of them that well, sinking to the floor and kneeling, wrapping their arms around their legs and staying quiet.  Tiger’s Eye formed after that, the striped form frowning, then eyes widening in horrified realisation. She hesitated, unsure what to do, or where to turn to. It helped when Spinel reformed next. The two had always been close friends, and sat down together to discuss it. Tiger’s Eye glanced towards Pearl more than once, wanting to speak to her as they had on many occasions, but not wanting to intrude. She seemed quite focused on Rose at the moment.

      There was a brief moment of chaos as Aventurine’s light green form almost punched Emerald’s darker one, as they reformed at almost the exact same time beside each other. Emerald dodged just in time, and Aventurine apologised profusely, tears in her eyes. Her guilt was almost overwhelming, thanks to the grief and horror of the day. She’d almost attacked one of the few remaining gems on earth, and she couldn’t do enough to apologise for it. Emerald tried to reassure her, brushing off the apologies. They’d all had moments when they’d reformed thinking they were still in battle, it happened, and it wasn’t a big deal. Eventually, Aventurine stopped apologising, tears spilling from her eyes as grief took over. Emerald squeezed her hand tight, trying to help even as she dealt with her own grief.

      A Sapphire formed, alone and silent, ice forming around her even as she moved hurriedly to stand by a Pearl yet to reform. She didn’t have to look to find the gem, simply seeing. The two had come to the rebellion separately, but nowadays it was incredibly rare to see them unfused.

      The Ruby and Sapphire who formed Garnet reached out, holding on to each other in comfort, reassured by the other’s prescence as they saw the other Sapphire wait. Neither of them envied her long wait before being able to refuse, to even reassure herself that the gem she loved was alright.

      Their love stretched between them, and the two fused without even meaning too, Garnet standing tall where they had been, still shuddering with grief, still trembling, but together, no matter what. The other Sapphire watched, trying to stay calm. She knew that the Pearl she loved would reform, but she also knew it would be a while. Although her Pearl always tried to reform quickly after battle, it would still be a long time to sit and watch the inert form of the gem she loved.

       The Citrine in Amethyst’s hands started to glow, and Amethyst stood, holding out the gem and letting it stand alone, reforming into a tall, sturdily built gem wearing a dress that most quartz warriors would never chose. She reached out for Amethyst immediately, her face creasing with worry as she saw how upset the other gem was, and Amethyst sobbed, crying as she reassured herself that Citrine was alright.

      “Everyone’s gone, Citri, the Diamonds, they – we’re all that’s left. They corrupted everyone, they’re all gone. Nephrite – Cinnabar –“

      Citrine pulled Amethyst in, holding her tight, even as her face twisted with grief. “All of them?” She asked, voice quiet. “They can’t…” She looked around and saw the truth in the faces around her.

      She shook as she held Amethyst, hugging tight, and knew she couldn’t let go. She couldn’t lose Amethyst. Amethyst felt the same, and their gems glowed at the same time, linked enough that a dance was unnecessary to fuse together. Ametrine stood in their place, hugging herself, sobbing.

      The gems were all doing their best to come back quickly. That much was obvious. Those who usually took days were back in only one. Even so, there were hours between most gems. It had already been two days since the corruption by the time Selenite reformed, staring around her in pure shock as those around her explained. She didn’t respond, standing still and taking it in before moving over to where Epidote sat alone, sitting beside her in silent company.

      A Ruby reformed, and although one Spinel had reformed already and sat beside Tiger’s Eye, the one this Ruby immediately looked for had not. She held the gemstone in her hands, angry and emotional but refusing to let it hurt the gem she loved, channelling the heat of her fury towards her feet rather than her hands. The other Spinel moved towards her, friends with the Gem the Ruby held. They’d come from the same kindergarten, after all. She knew Ruby well, and tried to help reassure her. Ruby moved over to sit with that Spinel and Tiger’s Eye, grateful for their reassurance.

      Pyrite rose into the air, spiky hair reaching up almost as much as the gems height without out, golden and pointing high.

      “What happened?” Pyrite asked. “Where are the others?”

      It took some time to make Pyrite believe their words, that so many of their number were lost. Pyrite was used to spending battles helping to protect other gems. This felt like an utter failure. The usually confident gem was shaken and scared, just like the rest of them.

      None of them knew what to do. It was impossible to face this loss, to deal with it. All they had was each other. So many gems had been destroyed and shattered, and those that weren’t were corrupted. They knew to trust Rose. There was a reason she was the leader. If she said there was little hope of healing the corrupted gems, there was little cause to doubt. Some did, stubborn in their determination not to give up on those who they’d lost. If corrupted gems could be saved, then maybe they hadn’t lost their friends, even if it wasn’t possible to cure them yet.

      Kyanite was one of them. She reformed, deep blue fabric cascading over her form even as she did. She stared at the misery around her. She didn’t need to ask. It was clear something dreadful had happened, something drastic, something that even she couldn’t mediate. She couldn’t make this better. She moved, not wanting to stand still, moving around the room and trying to give comfort where she could, but there was little she could do to ease this pain. Even so, there was no way she would believe her friends truly lost.

      It was Hematite who reformed next, her calming abilities helping those around her as she noticed their pain. She was shaking, unused to a fight. She usually kept from a fight, helping the resistance in less violent ways, but they’d known this battle would be big. She’d trained to defend herself. She knew enough. She thought she could help, even if she didn’t like fighting. She thought every gem was necessary. She realised, once everything was explained, that if she hadn’t been in the battle, she would have been corrupted herself. Even so, she’d experienced the painful experience of her form being dissipated violently by a Jasper’s axe that she’d been unable to hold off.

      The Ruby who’d reformed earlier started as the gem in her hands started to glow, releasing the Spinel so she could reform properly. The reddish blue gem formed, eyes immediately searching for Ruby.

      “Ruby, are you alright?” She asked urgently, pulling the other gem towards her and examining her for any visible injury.

      “Physically, yes.” Ruby answered, voice full of bitterness. “None of us can be fully alright, Spinel. Everyone’s…Homeworld destroyed everyone. Corrupted them. They don’t even know who they are anymore.”

      Spinel looked around the room, noting those around her. “This can’t be everyone.” She said.

      Ruby closed her eyes. “It is.” She answered, forcing the words out despite not wanting to acknowledge it.

      Spinel reached out. “It’s – it’ll be alright. It has to be. Everything will be alright, somehow. I – Ruby…” Ruby gripped her arms, and the two spun into an embrace, being replaced in a blaze of light by Pyrope. Being together made everything easier somehow. It was like a constant hug, a constant comfort and reassurance that everything would be alright. Pyrope’s eyes glittered with grief and defiance. There was no way Pyrope would just accept this. They might not have a solution to corruption yet, but that did not mean it was impossible. They would find a way. Somehow.

      More hours passed as the gems mourned, none of them willing to leave the area around the fountain until every single remaining Crystal Gem had reformed. There was little else they could do. The war was over, and what they needed now was reassurance that at least they were not alone.               Rose knew that at some point they would have to try to contain the corrupted gems, to prevent them from causing damage and hurting the humans, but right now she needed to stay with the scant survivors of her rebellion, both for herself and for them. She walked amongst them, talking to each of them, trying to offer comfort, or at the very least acknowledgement of their feelings, of what was happening. Trying not to show her guilt, even as it twisted inside her. She’d been foolish. Thinking the Diamonds would let Earth go – thinking that the Earth would be free without a Diamond to lead it.

      Was it worth it? So much destruction, to save one planet? For one moment, just one, she wasn’t sure.

      An Agate rose up as Rose walked by, forming into one of the original Crystal Gems – Crazy Lace. Rose paused to explain to her, to tell Crazy Lace just how close they’d all come to destruction, offering a hug to the Agate.  
      It was hard to be optimistic at a time like this. Crazy Lace Agate tried it anyway. She pulled away from the hug after a few minutes, taking a deep breath to steady herself from the news, and swallowed.

      “They’ve left then? All of them? Even the Diamonds?” She asked.

      Rose nodded.

      “Rose, that means we won. It…it was close, and we’ve lost a lot, but Rose, this is also a victory. We won.”

      Rose forced a smile, for her sake. “I suppose we have.”

       The other original Crystal gems were soon surrounding them, greeting Crazy Lace. Biggs was doing her best to argue for going up against Homeworld somehow, with Snowflake sternly trying to stop her. Crazy Lace supported Snowflake’s case, pointing out that there was no way for them to get to Homeworld, anyway. She reminded Biggs that their aim had been to protect the Earth. Homeworld thought all the Crystal Gems destroyed. They had no reason to return to Earth now. It would be remembered as the planet that shattered a Diamond, after all. Who would wish to claim that?

      Almost everyone had reformed by this point. A Peridot joined them next, closely followed by Astroyphyllite. The Peridot had been fairly new to the rebellion, joining only a few earth days before the battle. She’d been unprepared, only just having learnt to use her weapon, and poofed early on. It was lucky that Pearl had been close enough to prevent her being shattered. Several gems had warned her beforehand to stay back, to keep from the battle at least this time. She’d been too stubborn, certain that even with her lack of experience she’d be able to do something. She’d wanted to fight, to prove herself to the others. Not realising she was safe, she was reaching to summon her weapon before even checking her surroundings. It was Ametrine who calmed her down. Peridot didn’t know anyone very well. She hadn’t been there long enough to know more than a few people, and most of them had been lost in the corruption. She’d spoken to Ametrine before, though. Hematite also came over, doing her best to help calm the Peridot who seemed desperate to hide her fear at what had happened. The three huddled together, talking quietly. Peridot was young, after all. She was barely out of the kindergarten, as well as new to the rebellion. She wasn’t used to destruction. What she’d seen in the battle, and what she heard of now, horrified her.

      Astrophyllite was calmer, recognising her friend Pyrite and moving over immediately, talking to her carefully to learn what was going on. Everyone was grieving and angry, and Astrophyllite would rather stick to someone she knew well for an explanation than question another.

      There were still two gems left to reform. Of the two remaining gems, Cat’s Eye Actinolite rose first, the gem twisting in the air until it formed into the friendly gem. She’d been grinning as she reformed. She’d been poofed as the Homeworld armies ran for the warp pads, rushing to leave the Earth. She’d seen them start to leave, and thought the rebellion had won. Her smile faded as she saw the grief around her and realised that her idea of events couldn’t be true. After all, if they had won, there would be celebration. This was far from that. To be told that only these gems had survived seemed wrong. She shook her head, as if by refusing to accept it she could stop it being real. It couldn’t be possible. She could see that it was, even as she tried to deny it.

      The last to reform was a Pearl, with a Sapphire waiting carefully beside her. The gems could see the moment before Pearl started to regenerate, as the Sapphire stood from where she’d been sitting as still as a statue, to place the gem down, just in time for it to rise up and start to find it’s form.

      Every one of the gems there watched as the Pearl reformed, and she stumbled back as she did, noticing their attention and blushing in embarrassment as she realised they were all focused on her. She wasn’t used to attention. She didn’t like it.

      The Sapphire took her hand, and spoke to her quietly. Pearl pulled away after hearing it, scanning those around her to see who had survived, her eyes meeting those of the Renegade. So few were left of the rebellion.

      “I didn’t see it.” The Sapphire said softly, so only the Pearl could hear. “I should have. I should have been able to see it coming, but I didn’t – I didn’t even consider-“ Pearl reached out, wiping the tears from the smaller gem’s face.

      “No one could have seen it, Sapphie.” She said, her voice barely above a whisper but certain. “You can’t blame yourself for this. She rested her forward against Sapphire’s, and the two let themselves be comforted by the other’s presence. Then Sapphire reached out, moving, Pearl moving with her. They twisted, twirling against each other, and they were gone. Moonstone stood, tall and lean, a floaty material over her shoulders. She wept into her giant hands as the grief took over.

       The Crystal Gems did little, for a while. There was little to do, and few had the energy to start hunting down those who had previously been their friends. They knew it would have to happen eventually. These corrupted gems were dangerous, and couldn’t be allowed to roam free. The Earth may be free from Homeworld, but it wasn’t free from danger.

      For now, though, they mourned together, talking of those they’d lost where they could, refusing to let themselves forget. They named them all and recorded them, a list of those who were gone. There was a list of all those in the rebellion, so they knew that no one had been forgotten.

      Those who remained got to know each other, introducing those who had only caught glimpses of each other before, and knowing that whilst it was difficult to talk now, it would become easier.

      They were still the Crystal Gems, after all. They were a unit, a team. A rebellion. They were fewer in number but they would not give up.

      They would keep fighting, even if they were all that remained.


End file.
